


Where to Land

by majorgreen



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brianna Lives Her Life And Figures It Out, Coming of Age, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 19:51:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18667228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majorgreen/pseuds/majorgreen
Summary: Brianna is born on a cold November day in 1948. Beyond that, she isn't quite sure what to make of herself.





	Where to Land

The year is 1951 and Brianna is three years old. The peace sign will make its first appearance in seven years, the first satellite will be launched into space by the Russians in six, and in five, Brianna will cry over a boy for the first time (but not the last). 

They live in a rowhouse in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, complete with a little backyard and a scruffy, rebellious Scottish Terrier called Jocky that Jamie insists they have to honor his Highland heritage. Claire laughs and shakes her head, but no matter how many rolls of toilet paper Jocky anxiously rips up when he is left alone in the house, she loves that dog. 

When Brianna is little, her dad is around more. It isn’t really anyone’s fault––Claire studies for medical school religiously in between nursing shift and often comes home just as Jamie puts Brianna down, much to her chagrin. Late at night, in kitchen with a sleeve of Oreos and ice-cold glasses of milk, Claire laments about her schedule and that she isn’t being a mother in the proper way for her daughter. 

“What’s the proper way of being a mother then, Sassenach? Do ye need to put your hair in those wee curlers like Mrs. Metelsky next door and give us all a fright with the sound of your voice?”

Claire chuckles and rolls her eyes. She twists her Oreo and not so delicately licks the cream filling from the inside before dunking the cookie in her milk. 

“You know what I mean. What if she forgets me? Or resents me when she’s older for not being around more? I wasn’t even there for her first steps––”

“Stop right there, Claire,” Jamie says. He points at her, using a cookie for emphasis. His jaw sets in the way it does only when Claire isn’t being herself. “You’re her mother, mo leannan––”

“Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.” Claire sits back, arms crossed. The refrigerator hums. All is quiet.

“Perhaps ye can ask the hospital to switch to the night shift. More time during the day with the lass, then,” Jamie says at last. Claire takes a sip of milk from her glass. 

“Perhaps I can,” Claire says. She smiles slightly at Jamie before sighing and running a hand through her hair.

“I’ll hold ye to it,” he says, raising his glass. Claire raises an eyebrow and joins in, and the two Very Mature adults with jobs and a young daughter and a mortgage and graying hairs clink glasses of whole milk and practically finish the sleeve of Oreos in one breath. 

It’s a bit of a joke, this little midnight tradition of theirs. Because no matter how many Oreo-fueled therapy sessions she has and no matter how many times Claire confides in Jamie about her mothering skills or lack thereof, Claire will never actually ask for a new shift at the hospital. And Jamie knows, and Jamie plays along. Claire will never change shifts and never stop studying, because while she loves Brianna more than life itself, she knows who she is and never gives less than 110 percent with anything she does. It will annoy Brianna later, how seemingly perfect her mother is at everything. But that won’t be for a few years yet. 

 

Upstairs, little Brianna lays in her not so little Big Girl Bed dreaming of a large black cat called Quippy that only she can understand.

**Author's Note:**

> Thought it was time for Brianna to have something more. I have some ideas for this story that have me excited, and I hope that you'll join me for the ride of whatever this becomes. Thanks for giving the first (albeit quite short) chapter a read!


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